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February 27, 2004/Adar 5 5764, Vol. 56, No. 23
U.S. wants detailed plan
RON KAMPEAS
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
WASHINGTON - It's conventional wisdom: In an election year, keep away from the Arab-Israeli conflict.
The Middle East helped drive incumbent Presidents Carter and Bush out of office, and President Clinton's intense last-ditch efforts at the end of his term didn't help candidate Al Gore.
Like much conventional wisdom, there's a grain of truth to the maxim. After all, the Middle East is unstable enough to enable the kind of October surprise that could scuttle a presidential bid.
Yet it is that instability that now is driving the Bush administration to turn the conventional wisdom on its head.
With the prospect of Palestinian-populated areas imploding - and the po-tential for spillover into U.S. efforts in Iraq, not to mention the U.S. presidential race - the Bush administration is renewing its efforts to bring peacemaking in the region forward.
Three of President Bush's most trusted advisers on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict went to Israel last week to make sure Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon hews to U.S. guidelines in his efforts to disengage from the Palestinians.
U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell is making clear he wants a full and detailed report from the Israelis.
"We are following closely Mr. Sharon's proposals of recent weeks about eva-cuating the settlements in Gaza," he said. "And what we have said to the Israelis (is that) we have to understand the total picture."
But the three envoys who went to Israel last week are not getting the full picture.
According to Jewish organizational officials in the United States, the Americans are frustrated by differences between Sharon and the man he assigned to handle the planning minutia: Giora Eiland.
Eiland is eager to get things going, while Sharon re-portedly wants things to move along at a slower pace.
Sharon has been encouraged by Bush and his aides continually laying principal blame for the crisis on the Pal-estinians. That outlook encourages Israelis to believe that they have time to work things out.
The problem is, Powell suggested, that the Americans need progress by June 30, when Bush wants to transfer power in Iraq to an Iraqi provisional government. The United States is seeking Arab, European and U.N. support ahead of the transfer, and progress on the Israeli-Palestinian front would help.
Another factor spurring U.S. involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the danger inherent in any unilateral action, such as an Israeli pullout from Gaza.
If the Israelis pull out earlier than expected and the Gaza Strip implodes into a civil war, it could scuttle whatever credibility the Bush administration has in the region - another incentive for Americans to stay involved in the process.
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